City of Bloomington

Mayor Dan Brady says he does not think a close city council vote to dedicate grocery sales tax money to infrastructure came about because of inconsistent messaging.

All revenue generated by the City of Bloomington’s local grocery tax that goes into effect next year will be used to pay for infrastructure improvements.

Another approved use of money is to replace an aging electronic record management system that integrates information for the courts, law enforcement, and other McLean County stakeholders. There has been a lot of unhappiness about that project too.

When the state rollback of the locally shared grocery tax first passed, then-Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe said he believed there was no appetite on the Bloomington City Council to impose a local tax. Though the vote was still split, the council passed the tax this week.

The dispute over shared sales tax money for mental health and public safety has escalated again. Normal and Bloomington have formally accused the county of defaulting on the decade-old intergovernmental agreement on use of the shared revenue.

Dabrona Alzebdieh and her son Joshua opened South of Chicago Groceries across the street from Miller Park in Bloomington, after seeing the neighborhood lacked a place to get fresh food nearby.

The Bloomington City Council adopted code text amendments pertaining to downtown development and multi-family residential districts, while acknowledging receipt of the "missing middle" housing analysis report from Opticos Design, Inc.

The Town of Normal is ratcheting up its rhetoric on the shared sales tax agreement the town and City of Bloomington have with McLean County government. And the county is pushing back hard.

The City of Bloomington confirmed Tuesday that recent testing shows increased taste and odor compounds. Officials said they’re taking several steps to address the recurring problem.

Waterfowl repeatedly get caught in fishing line and hooks across the nation and at Miller Park Lake in Bloomington, according to local experts.